196 INSECTIVOROUS BIRDS 



RAYEN, 



€ or one aiistralis, Old. 



Ko-rone as-tra'lis. 

 Korone, a raven ; australis, southern. 



CoRONE AUSTRALIS, mounted specimen, National Museum, Mel- 

 bourne. 



Geographical Distribution. — The whole of Australia and Tas- 

 mania. 



Key to the Species. — Plumage uniform blue-black, bases of feathers 

 dusky brown or black, not snow-white ; first primary longer 

 than ordinary secondaries, but shorter than the innermost 

 secondaries ; hallux very strong. 



"The Raven is undoubtedly the most commonly seen bird 

 in nearly all Australia, excepting in the towns and suburbs. 

 No homestead exists in the country which is not visited by 

 crows ; indeed, hardly a traveller can camp for the night but 

 his tent and fire are discovered by this keen-sighted bird. 

 In fact, he may well be said to be the bird most knowing 

 and most gifted with reasoning powers we have in the 

 colonies, and we have some of great intellectual ability." 

 Such is what Mr. Price Fletcher tells me in speaking 

 specially of Queensland travel. It is not so prominent a 

 bird in south-west Australia, and appears there to be 

 represented by the Crow. The Raven has a greater his- 

 torical interest than the geese which saved the Roman 

 capital. In size, " the largest raven is the greatest of the 

 Passerine order." According to leading anatomists it is 

 probably the most highly developed of all birds. Mr. L. I). 

 Cameron's letter to me, dated 10th April, 1898, contains a 

 valuable contribution to the knowledge of the sagacity of 

 the Raven, and a non-sensitiveness about the gastric region. 

 They seem to be able to swallow a thing and throw it up 



